• WordsWillNeverHurtMe

Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3

(RobHague)

All is not well in Unity's literary circles.

starring Jon Culshaw as MrFlanagan

Episode 1

25/11/23 - The characters attend a party that JackProctor has organised at 122 to celebrate the launch of his friend SarahCarpenter's new book, Secrets. Entertainment is provided by TheBootlegThree. Various intrigues occur. Notably, Sarah and EthanLocke dance a couple of times, and SuzannaJohnson gets drunk and embarrasses herself, despite the best efforts of RebeccaSwarovski.

As the band winds down at about 1am, people make to depart. Lisa and Tony head home, as do Jack and Martha. Robert agrees to give Sarah a lift home, and the rest go off to TheAlibi. Robert drops Sarah off, and is about to head home, but she emerges and waves him back. She has noticed that one of the windows has been broken, and fears an intruder may be in the house. Ever the gentleman, Robert retrieves his gun from the glove box and proceeds to investigate the house. He does not see anything untoward downstairs, but on his way up he notices spots of some red liquid on the stairs. He gets to the master bedroom (where Sarah has told him she keeps the valuables), and pushes open the door. The room has been ransacked, but he can't see details. He moves in and turns up the (gas) light; as he does this, the door swings closed behind him, and he sees the words "secret" and "book" daubed on the back of the door in reverse writing, so they read correctly in the dresser mirror. The same red substance that they are daubed in is splashed liberally across the room. He reacts badly to this, and shoots the dresser, shattering the mirror into shards.

He pulls himself together, and goes back out onto the landing, to see Sarah and Suzanna at the bottom of the stairs; they heard the shot. He explains that there's no-one there, briefly checks the other rooms (finding nothing of note), and then calls the police. They arrive, and suggest that everyone should go and get some sleep. Robert suggests that Sarah stays with them, and she accepts.

Late the following morning, Sarah gets a phone call (at the Johnson's) from FrankShort, asking her and Robert to come to the station. They go along and make statements; they also find out that the liquid splashed around the place was not blood, as they thought, but red paint. Frank says that Sarah is free to start repairing the damage; they've studied the scene enough. Robert offers to help, and they go to her house, stopping at 122 en route in order to have a little light lunch and pick up the remaining PCs (who've read about the incident in the morning papers).

Rebecca takes Henry along, but he doesn't seem to spot anything. Benny examines the window that got broken (which has been boarded up); it seems that someone took a loose brick from the garden wall, used it to smash the window and remove most of the glass, then climbed through. the others go up and help Sarah collect a few things; she's going to stay at the Johnson's until she can get the mess sorted out and everything repaired. They take a look at the symbols painted on the door, and while several people recognise them as Northern European (probably Germanic) occult symbols, they can't pin down specifics.

It is noted that, whilst the box of valuables under the bed is undamaged (possibly, it wasn't discovered), the bookcase has been ripped to pieces, and it's contents scattered. Noticing that many of the books are not of the kind usually found in the bedrooms of young ladies, Lisa inquires and finds out that they're what Sarah has been using to research the occult for Secrets. Lisa and Alsoud have the idea to search for the symbols in the book, and sure enough they are found in a book name DieTeufelworte (which Robert translates as "The Devil Words"). They finish packing Sarah's effects, including the books, and head home. Alsoud borrows a copy of Secrets to read.

That evening, Sarah turns in fairly early, as do the rest of the Johnson household. However, they are awoken at midnight by Sarah screaming. Robert rushes out onto the landing to see Sarah burst out of her room. "There's someone outside my window!"

Episode 2

{{{Razors pain you; Rivers are damp; Acids stain you; And drugs cause cramp. Guns aren't lawful; Nooses give; Gas smells awful; You might as well live.

• - Dorothy Parker}}}

Robert tells Sarah to stay where she is, and runs downstairs to investigate, grabbing a carbide lamp and gun on the way. He doesn't see anyone, but upon investigating the area indicated sees evidence that someone has disturbed the flower beds (though not pushed through the bushes). At this point, he hears a noise behind him, and whirls around to see that it is Sarah who has followed him out. He does not mention the disturbed earth, and the two go back in to the house, to find the cook, who was woken by the commotion. Robert assures her that everything is OK, and she makes some cocoa for Robert and Sarah and departs. Sarah is visibly shaken, and doesn't say much as she drinks the cocoa and then returns to bed. Suzanna was sleeping with Prince Valium, and remains blissfully unconscious throughout (discussion of this possibility led to the citation of the above verse).

The following morning (Tuesday the 27th), Robert and Sarah breakfast, then head to the club. Sarah is introduced to Eric (the other PCs are either lecturing or still in bed), then excuses herself and makes a couple of phone calls - these are overheard to be arranging a glazier (JebRobinson) to come and fix the broken window. At this point, some of the lazier members of the club arrive. Pleasantries are exchanged, then Eric and Rebecca take Henry for a walk (giving the latter a chance to bring the former up to speed with current events). They plan a route via Sarah's house. Meanwhile, Sarah makes her excuses and hails a cab home to wait for Robinson. Hence, Eric and Rebecca bump into her as she arrives. They have a brief conversation, then Robinson arrives, and Rebecca and Eric head back to 122.

After lunch, Sarah turns up in something of a state. She tells the assembled PCs that someone has been through her things; she found a note in between the pages of DieTeufelworte that she is certain wasn't there last night; she shows them it, saying she couldn't decipher it; the PCs recognise it as mirror writing, and with the aid of a mirror in the tea room reveal the following text:

• You told them everything. Everything. You shouldn't have told them the secrets. I watched you, couldn't stop you. Not with everyone there. But now I can.

It is decided that they should investigate the origins of DieTeufelworte; Sarah had mentioned to Robert that she bought he copy at DaimlerAndSons, a Providence rare book dealer. Robert rang the shop and asked about it; the owner was reluctant to talk over the phone, and arranged to meet him latter that afternoon. Robert, Benny, Ethan, and Alsoud headed to Providence, while Lisa, Eric and Rebecca checked the archives of the ProvidenceGazzette in the society library. Hayes spent the afternoon calling ClementGreer's former clients telling them he may have found an alternate supplier for rare books.

MrDaimler, the owner of the book shop, closes the shop when they arrive, and, after examining the book and confirming that it is the same copy, tells them that he bought it from a man named "Frank, or Francis, or something similar to that, Hoffer", a Brown student, about a year ago. The man seemed desperate to sell, so Daimler managed to get the book for a particularly low price. However, a few nights later, Hoffer returned, armed with a kitchen knife, and broke into the shop. Daimler, who lives above the shop, came down and confronted Hoffer. The was a brief struggle, but Daimler managed to subdue Hoffer for long enough for the police, who had been called by a neighbour, to arrive. (At this point, Daimler displayed the scars from stab wounds he received during the fight.) Hoffer was subsequently committed; police told Daimler that he had been looking for "the book". Robert, Ethan and Benny took a trip to the precinct police station to try and find out more about the arrest; the desk sergeant couldn't tell them anything, but made them an appointment to see the captain at four the following day.

After picking up Alsoud, they headed back to 122. The researchers back in Unity discovered similar information; the narrowed the name down to FranzHoffer, and found that he had been committed to the ProvidenceHomeForTheMentallyEnfeebled after his trial. Everyone headed home. Robert was surprised to learn that Sarah wasn't there. He headed over to her house to find the door ajar. He armed himself, and cautiously entered. He found Sarah flat on her back in the kitchen, lying in a pool of blood (definitely blood, this time) with a large kitchen knife sticking out of her right shoulder - it had gone through to the other side of her back. Robert blanched, then ran and called the police, getting them to send an ambulance as well. He returned and staunched the bleeding until they arrived. Sarah was rushed to LincolnDistrictHospital, and Robert followed.

After a short wait (that didn't seem short), doctors told Robert that Sarah was in a stable condition, but had lost a lot of blood. Due to this, and some sedation, she was unlikely to regain consciousness for a couple of days, but she was no longer in imminent danger of dying. She was in a private room (on the interior of the hospital), with a UniformedOfficer stationed outside the door. Robert called Jack and Martha, who came as quickly as they could. They decided to take shifts by the bedside, and, after impressing upon Jack the gravity of the situation (and being relieved that Jack had brought his gun), Robert went back to 122, and told the others what happened with the aid of several stiff drinks.

Episode 3

The characters decide that the attacker is likely to strike again either at the hospital, where Sarah is guarded by Jack and the police, or at her house (looking for the book). Eric, Rebecca and Hayes go over to the house and stake it out. Hayes remains in the car watching the front, Eric climbs up a tree in the back garden with his rifle, and Rebecca takes Henry and goes up to Sarah's bedroom. In the early hours of the morning, Rebecca falls asleep on the bed; the last thing she sees is the symbols on the back of the door, although she doesn't remember this.

A short while latter, Eric sees her get up from the bed, apparently sleepwalking. She moves towards the door, at which point a growling Henry attacks her and pins her to the floor. This wakes her up, and she is able to calm Henry. Eric, who cannot see this, jumps down from the tree and runs into the house and up the stars. Hayes hears a commotion and sees someone running up the stairs; he sounds the horn, grabs his shotgun and investigates. When it has been conclusively established that there is no intruder, it is suggested that the sleepwalking might be significant, and efforts are made to reproduce it. Rebecca falls asleep again, this time turned towards the window in order to avoid the sight of Hayes and Eric watching her, and sleeps soundly for a few hours.

Meanwhile, Robert gets up (still slightly the worse for wear after his drinking binge) and heads over to the hospital. Jack reports a fairly uneventful night, they exchange pleasantries with OfficerMike, who's stationed at the door, and Robert settles into the chair next to Sarah's bed and carries on trying to make sense of DieTeufelworte.

Alsoud, Ethan, Benny and Lisa head over to Providence to visit FranzHoffer at the ProvidenceHomeForTheMentallyEnfeebled. The receptionist is far more helpful than the desk sergeant was, and gets an orderly ("Joshua") to show them to his cell. As Ethan watched from the grill in the door of his padded cell, the straight-jacketed Hoffer went from placid to snarling monster, throwing himself against the door and screaming in German. He then reverted to English, babbling incoherently about "the book". Benny entered the cell and questioned Hoffer (while restraining him), but couldn't get much sense out of him. He noted that Hoffer was surprisingly strong for a man of his size; indeed, as Benny was about to leave, Hoffer managed to break free of his grip, at which point Joshua knocked him unconscious. They returned to the reception, and asked to see the doctor who admitted Hoffer; they were sent upstairs, and told that DrRotherham would see them shortly.

Back in Unity, Rebecca wakes up; she takes Henry for a walk for a couple of hours, while Eric and Hayes go an catch up on a little sleep. Robert nods off at the hospital whilst reading DieTeufelworte, and wakes to find OfficerMike shaking him; apparently, he'd been thrashing about and mumbling. OfficerMike went to get a nurse to fetch some coffee, and Robert noticed that the book had been stuffed under the mattress of Sarah's bed.

Once DrRotherham had finished with the patient he was seeing, he invited his visitors in. Alsoud explained that he was wanting to talk to Hoffer regarding a book. DrRotherham was surprised to learn that DieTeufelworte actually existed; they had been unable to glean much about Hoffer's circumstances from the police, and had assumed that the book was a fabrication. He went on to explain that Hoffer seemed to have an alter ego completely divorced from his normal personality, and obsessed with keeping the book a secret. When note having one of these episodes, Hoffer genuinely seemed to have no recollection of them. The episodes seemed to be exacerbated by tiredness or sedation. Indeed, Hoffer was a morphine addict, and the evidence found by the police suggests that he had taken a particularly large dose, enough to knock him out for a day or more, an hour or two prior to breaking into the bookshop.

Once the interview was concluded, they phoned 122, where Rebecca, Eric and Hayes were having a late breakfast, and told them to go to the hospital and tell them not to give Sarah any sedatives. They set off post haste. Across town, Sarah stirred and then opened her eyes. Robert was surprised by this and shouted for OfficerMike, who shouted for a nurse, who turned up moments later with the doctor and a trolley full of instruments. The doctor examined Sarah and asked how she was feeling ("fine"), and then took Robert outside the room. He told him that it was most unusual that she was awake this quickly; they were expecting her to be unconscious for another day at least. Robert replied that the important thing was that she was OK.

At that moment, they heard a scream and a clattering noise from the room. They rushed in, closely followed by OfficerMike, to see Sarah out of bed and holding a scalpel to the nurse's throat. She was growling, initially in German, saying that certain gods (which Robert recognised from DieTeufelworte) wanted the book to remain a secret, and not be seen by outsiders. Robert tried to talk her down, but his attention was increasingly drawn to the book that he'd left on his chair. At this point, Eric, Hayes and Rebecca arrived. Robert agreed to pass the book to Sarah, as he did so, she pushed the nurse away and grabbed him, getting his gun out of his pocket and waving it at the assembled police, medical staff and PlayerCharacters. She was edging towards the door when Eric tackled her to the ground, knocking OfficerMike over in the process. His gun skittered to Robert's feet, and he picked it up, a funny look in his eyes.

<<< I'm possibly under the influence of some kind of Ubelhypnotishierenebuch, but I can't quite remember how we got from Robert picking up the gun to Sarah running off down the corridor and getting shot. Anyone care to fill in the details? -- RobHague >>>

<<< I'm not 100% sure of the details myself. I think it went something like this: -- Steve McIntyre >>>

Sarah took advantage of the confusion caused by Robert waving the gun around. She darted for the door and ran out into the corridor. She headed left, only to run almost headlong into Hayes. She quickly turned and fled the other way, but Hayes was too quick and shot her in the legs from behind with his shotgun. She fell to the floor, the book skittering from her grasp and away down the corridor...

At 122 afterwards, Hayes and OfficerMike agreed that it was the latter who had shot the escaping fugitive (well, it was all very confusing; nobody really had any clear idea of what was going on). Robert took DieTeufelworte into the back yard, and, with only a little hesitation, set fire to it and watched it burn down to ashes. Sarah was taken off to UnityAsylum, and placed under the care of DrJackson; neither the nurse, nor the hospital, are planning to press charges.